Switcheroo
by Nanomemes
Summary: Freaky Friday Fams. [COMPLETE]
1. Lizard People

_Borne from Discord Chaos_

* * *

It was a cool silent morning in Florida. At only five AM, commuters had yet to fill the streets. The cool mist of evening still lingered over the streets and SouthTown's 'legendary hungry wolf' slept peacefully on his favorite sofa, in front of his old TV set. Every night the low murmur of television lulled Terry Bogard to sleep. Every morning he would wake at seven O'Clock sharp to his adopted son clanging around in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

But not today.

Today, a scream of abject horror shook the Bogard residence. Terry was started awake by the noise and nearly jumped out of his skin. Fatigue was overwhelmed with adrenaline and paternal instinct, and Terry stumbled out of his favorite couch, to his feet. He felt panic rise in his chest.

"What the- Rock?! Rock what happened! Hey! Rock!"

The cry had originated from his son's room, and Terry charged at Rock's bedroom door, nearly tripping over the coffee table in his haste. What could have happened? Was he injured? He had looked and behaved normally yesterday. He finished school for the day, went to band practice afterwards, ate dinner with his friends, then came home. It had been fairly typical.

Terry gritted his teeth as he elbowed the door open. Inside, Rock's room was messy. There was sheet music strewn across the floor, one of his pillows had been… cut open? The window was open all the way.

_Did he… ?! No way! Why would he?! It thirty feet! He could actually… no! _

His vision was tunneling a little bit, and he tried to keep himself from panicking. He rushed over to the open window and looked out, hoping that Rock hadn-...

_There's nobody there. Where is he?! Did he get kidnapped?! Where- _

"Shit! What the fuck! What the fuck is going on?!"

Terry blinked and turned towards the closed bathroom door. He didn't even hesitate as he grabbed the handle and wrenched the door open. He mentally prepared himself for the worst. He didn't know what had happened to his son, but he was going to be there to help him any way he could… And if someone had the _audacity_ to lay a hand on _his_ son, _they_ would pay dearly.

"Rock I'm coming in!"

*SLAM*

The door smashed into the white tile of the bathroom wall as Terry burst into the small bathroom. Rock was standing there, looking quite whole, and staring at himself in the mirror as if he'd grown a third eye.

Of course, he hadn't grown a third eye. He looked fine. Perhaps a little disheveled and shirtless, but otherwise completely normal. Terry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding… hell, he was worried his son had been kidnapped or worse.

He spoke gently as he reached out to pat Rock's shoulder.

"Rock… Rocky, hey buddy…are you okay?"

The moment he touched the boy, Rock whirled around with an uncanny furiousity. He grabbed Terry's fingers in his fist. He wore a beastiel expression… an expression Terry had yet to see him wear. It was startling and Terry froze.

_What happened? Did he have a bad dream?_

He was interrupted by Rock, who addressed him with an uncharacteristic coldness.

"Bogard. Who the hell do I look like."

"... What? Rock, what are you saying? Calm down alright?... Hey… "

Rock just stared at him, then he gritted his teeth, flung Terry's hand away, and whipped back towards the mirror to begin looking for something along his hairline. Terry just stared at his son, confused.

_He called me… Bogard?! He's never called me that… it's either 'Terry' or 'Dad' never 'Bogard'... Is he mad at me? _

"Rock, tell me what's wrong. Let me help you."

"This isn't funny, Bogard. I'm taking this off."

Terry sighed and walked over to the sink. He wasn't sure what had gotten into his son. Maybe he was hanging around crazy people too much. The music industry was supposed to be full of kooks. First and foremost among those kooks was SouthTown's resident lunatic, and Rock's band leader.

"... Rocky, hey come on, what's-"

Terry took one look at what Rock was doing and panicked. He quickly snatched the teenager's wrist from his face and spun him around to look him in the eye. Rock matched his concerned look with cold resolve and a hint of contempt. Somehow he had cut a clean gash above his ear with just his fingernails. Blood seeped from the wound and ran down the side of his head.

"What the hell are you doing! Rock, tell me what happened right now!"

"I'm not playing your game!"

"What?!"

"I have shit to do, Bogard. I don't have time for your stupid pranks."

He tried to turn back to the mirror, but Terry grabbed him by the shoulders.

'_What?!... _Rock, please. Look at me! Tell me what's happening! You're making me worried."

Rock narrowed his eyes and considered him for a moment. Terry was sure that something had gone wrong. This definitely was not how Rock normally behaved. Something extreme had happened. Maybe something supernatural.

_Bodysnatchers?!_

"Bogard. Tell me plainly. Is this a joke? Some sort of fucked up hidden camera bullshit?"

Rock spoke aggressively and authoritatively. His expression was guarded and distrusting. He was also cursing. It was very unlike him. Terry noted these things silently.

"No, it's not."

"Do you know who I am."

Terry composed himself and squared up. He stood a full six inches taller than Rock and steadied his voice to reply. At the very least, the body snatcher had been just as panicked as he was. He had tried to peel off it's own face for god's sake.

"... You look and sound very much like my son."

"Yeah…" The body snatcher turned to look at his reflection. "I'm in _fucking _Rock Howard's body…"

He hesitated.

"You're _sure_ this isn't a joke!? I _will_ blow your house up."

Terry frowned.

… _Maybe… wait, who talks just like this?… I swear I've heard this threat before… _

Terry responded coldly.

"I'm not playing any pranks… if You're not Rock, then… then who are you?"

The person who looked very much like his son sighed and seemed to let down his guard, just a bit. He turned and walked into Rock's bedroom. He spoke as he rummaged about, looking for a cellphone.

"Last night I was Iori Yagami."

"... What?! How can that be!"

Roc-_Iori_, had found Rock's cellphone and used the fingerprint scanner to unlock it. He dialed in a number and sat on the edge of the bed with the phone pressed to his ear.

"That's what I'm gonna find out."

"..."

_This is impossible. Maybe Rock is the one playing a joke… I mean, I didn't really take him as any sort of actor, but that's much more believable than this. Do they really want me to believe they just switched bodies overnight? Ridic-_

"_神楽、それは私です。奇妙なことが起こった" _

Terry almost choked as his son began speaking Japanese.

* * *

_Death by discord Chaos_

_Also, join discord_

_See my Bio for link_


	2. Don't Roast Me I'm Scared

_Finally have plot for this._

* * *

"Yagami! Hey! Getta'hold of yourself! Urf!... Riot! Could you please cooperat-" _*wack*_

He felt his bones creak as Iori screeched and smacked him in the shoulder. Kyo gritted his teeth and continued dragging the red-haired man across the floor.

Kyo Kusanagi had just disembarked his Caribbean cruise with Yuki, and decided to spend a few extra days in SouthTown to hang out (harass) his sworn rival.

He also wanted to steal the TV, sell it, and pocket the profits before hi-tailing it back to Japan. Iori always replaced his television without fail, and Kyo thought it was a great running joke between them. What Iori thought about the - rather expensive '_joke'_, Kyo didn't much care. They thrived off inconsiderate antics.

"Ouch! Riot! Behave! Get over here! Come on!"

Kyo had come here to leech, fight and eat expensive food. He didn't expect, upon breaking into Iori's apartment, to find the guy to be thrashing on the floor and foaming at the mouth. It'd been years since Riot had fought for control like this. Usually Iori let him out a couple of times a week to go play paintball or run missions with IKARI, and that kept his pretty sated. Kyo was under the impression his rival and his weird split personality were on friendly terms nowadays.

_Maybe they're fighting again? I dunno… Should I just fry him? Worked last time… _

"AAAAAA-a-a-a-a-ahh"

Riot grabbed him by the leg whilst screeching through chattering teeth. Kyo never knew how he did that without biting his tongue. Any normal person would find the experience horrifying, but Kyo was used to it by now. Riot was like a toddler-... no, more like a very dangerous pokemon, who for whatever reason had taken a liking to him. He regularly gave him handfuls of weird shiny trinkets. Sometimes it was trash, bottle caps and paper clips and things like that.

Sometimes it was bloody jewelry… often it was teeth with silver fillings... Usually Kyo threw that stuff out immediately and never asked questions. Yet it was good to know Riot had taken a liking to him. Fighting wasn't an option. The Riot was scarily strong.

_Dammit Riot! Just chill man… The hell is Yagami doing in there?!_

Besides, Kyo rather liked to hang out with Riot. It was significantly dumber than Iori (_imagine that)_ and usually had no problem handing over the credit card whenever Kyo asked for it. Iori's split personality was let out every Thursday to romp around and do whatever it wanted for twenty-four hours. Kyo was keen to take advantage of that. Once he brought Riot to a department store and did his entire year of clothes shopping in 8 hours. The next day - Friday- he arrived back in Japan to find Iori had filled his voicemail with angry messages.

"Behave or I'll roast you! Where's Iori!? Hey, Pay attention!"

"D-d-duckling! AAAA-a-a-ah"

Something was wrong and Kyo wasn't too sure what. He decided the best course of action was to temporarily seal the Riot away with a dose of Kusanagi flames, then ask his rival what was going on. It was something he could only do to Iori, since he instinctively activated his flames - and thus his heatproofing - when he was hit with fire. If he did this sort of thing to Leona, it might break her out of the Riot, but she would likely die afterwards.

_Alright dude, come on._

But luckily Iori was in there somewhere, so his flames would kick in on time. Kyo was gonna make him treat him for lunch after putting him through this nonsense… and also steal the TV. that was priority.

* * *

Terry Bogard was incredulous.

Everything was just too strange. Was he dreaming? Was his son playing a prank on him? Maybe Iori was playing a prank on him and had roped Rock into this? _No way, that guy has no sense of humor… and neither does Rock for that matter._

In any case, he was driving Roc- _no '_Iori' who currently looked exactly like his son, down to his apartment in PortTown. The roads were littered with potholes and many storefronts were boarded up and unoccupied. It seemed like this portion of the city was still recovering from the emergency rabies outbreak a couple of years ago.

_Well, Iori and Kyo got out okay… Rest in peace everyone who died… _

"_I don't know! No, I didn't eat anything weird-"_

Terry blinked and glanced over to his passenger. Iori Yagami - _or at least he claimed he was Iori Yagami_ \- was sitting in the passenger's seat yelling into a phone. He had stuck a bandaid over the cut he'd made above his ear, but it was so deep that blood was still dripping down his face. Terry had tried to stitch him up, since it was his son's body after all, but Iori wouldn't let him do any first aid.

"_Riot? No he's not here. I think he's in my body... What? Okay. Call me back."_

He just couldn't get used to hearing his son's voice speak in Japanese. Iori seemed to have finished speaking to whoever he needed to and was looking at his hands and frowning.

_What's he doing?… ugh whatever. I just hope I find my… actual son soon and we can get this sorted out. I don't think I can deal with this for too long… _

He sighed then dodged a pothole as he made a left onto Knight Street. The sun was just coming over the horizon, but it was still too dark to drive without headlights. The streets were deserted and silent. The hoot of an owl and the low rumble of the engine were the only noises that broke the silence of early morning.

_His house is… where is it… ah! _

Terry pulled up to the curb in front of _Mrs. Shates Flower Emporium_ and threw the car into park. There was a small side-street that led around to the back - where the entrance to Iori's apartment was. The noise of the engine cut out and for a short moment everything was silent. He looked at his passenger. Iori was spaced out.

Then a thump and a shout split the night. It wasn't English.

"_Alright Yagami, hang in there buddy! I'm getting you out."_

Terry frowned, and leaned forward. He vaguely recognized that voice… was tha-

"OH FUCK! OH SHIT!"

Iori had evidently recognized that voice as well and it immediately threw him into a panic. Terry looked over to see the man wearing a terrified expression. He threw the door open and almost tripped over himself as he bolted from the car and toward the source of the voice. He began screaming Japanese.

"_DON'T FUCKING BURN ME YOU SHIT! KUSANAGI?! OYY!"_

Terry didn't understand, but if it scared Iori it probably should scare him too. He rushed around the building to catch up with the action.

* * *

_TMW your best enemy burns your employee alive because he's trying to help you deal with your mental problems_


	3. BE-FETS THE OCCASION

_Awwww. Look at that Riot! the adoreable little thing. haha_

_Terry feeling awk asf._

_Return of Boxers Iori_

* * *

Crazy things tended to happen when they were together, so - to some degree - Kyo had expected strange stuff to happen. He thought finding Iori in bed and Rioted out and screaming something about roasted duck (_the thought made his stomach rumble)_, was the extent of today's madness.

He had taught himself not to be surprised at the things his rival did anymore… but he surely didn't expect the ground beneath his feet to explode to the tune of a squeaky voice screaming curses at him.

He was launched about thirty feet down the street, expertly rolled out of his fall, and escaped the small natural disaster with nothing but a skinned elbow. He trotted back toward the house, and around the small crater in the road, to find Iori's American bandmate shaking him by the throat and screaming.

"-did I tell you?! Didn't I say to be nice? _Orange_ here was about to roast your ass because you can't be discreet. Are you trying to kill us?! You know it's not me in there you little shit! Now where's Howard! Let him out right now!"

Iori looked like he was having a seizure.

That was normal.

This scruffy American kid screaming Japanese at the _Blood Riot_ … really wasn't.

And it didn't help when he caught sight of him. The kid dropped Iori on the the pavement, where he continued to foam at the mouth and convulse, and approached him menacingly… or as menacing as he could. He was an entire half-head shorter and every single time Kyo had encountered Rock Howard, the kid had been scared out of his wits. He seemed to be easily intimidated, moderately timid, and according to Yuki, fairly nice.

_Didn't she say he didn't speak Japanese either? Wait… it's only been a couple of months since they visited in Japan… _

There were many reasons why this _could not_ be happening, but the reality, and absurdity, of the situation were all too real. Rock Howard jabbed finger into his chest and began snarling at him like an animal. Behind him, Riot seemed to have calmed down and gone back to hide inside Iori's mess of a brain. Iori was crying and blubbering and generally freaking out. When he caught sight of Rock, he looked like he was about to have a panic attack. Terry went over to hug him and Iori just clung to him and sobbed. Kyo stared blankly at them, hardly conscious of the shrill voice lecturing from beneath his chin.

"Kusanagi you fuck! Why are you here. Did you take my TV again you piece of shit?! You trying to kill me or something? The hell is wrong with you!"

...

He didn't respond, he was staring at the person who looked a lot like Iori Yagami and acted like Rock Howard. Rock Howard… or…Iori... _this is too weird..._ made an annoyed noise and whirled to address the two of them in English.

"_Howard! Is that you?... Can you hurry up and stop crying? It's embarrassing. Go put on some pants or something. You're always lecturing me about that… And RIOT, don't! Do you hear me?! DON'T!"_

* * *

_Switching Bodies?... Impossible._

Chizuru Kagura was sitting in her drawing room dressed in her silken robe. She had her Director of Laboratory Research on the phone, and he was currently browsing his documents on what this strange condition could possibly be.

_But Gammy… he wouldn't lie to me, and he sounded pretty panicked._

What sort of strange technology was this? A method which could move _souls?_ How incredibly strange, and how incredibly dangerous. If this was real, then anyone could be anyone else, which meant she couldn't tell who was who, which meant nobody could be trusted, which meant-

_*Excuse me madame, I think I've found something. Apparently there's a file in Makishima's old notes concerning Bio-electric Field Effect Transistors, FETs. Similar in function to their chemical counterparts, you know - the ones we use while testing concentration in our manufacturing department. ChemFETS are really the star of the show down there. Otherwise we'd need to use Absorbance to measure it. Really it's-"_

"Akira!"

"_Amazing tha- oh… ehem … excuse me. Apparently Makishima has detailed plans to use Bio Electric FETS to mimic and reproduce brainwave functions. I'm not too sure how he planned to do it, but the papers indicate the doctor was working on a way to use this 'reprogramming' method to-*_

"It's late, Akira. Don't give me jargon. Tell me plainly, is it scientifically possible?"

_*It's quite a leap, but you of all people know of the Clone scientist's brilliance. Do you think this can be a basis for a new product? Perhaps a cure for Alzheimer's we-*_

"Can you reverse the effects?! Can you determine who the product has been used on?! How do I know who's been switched! Can you find out?! Akira!"

The man on the phone stuttered for a moment, then seemed to collect himself.

_*I couldn't say for certain, Madame… I've never-*_

Chizuru snarled.

Her heart was beating quickly, uneasiness had settled in her heart.

"FIND OUT! FIND OUT, AKIRA!"

_*uh… um, of course Madame… I'll have Jolen- ah, my assistant look into it immediately. I think she's still at the lab.*_

Chizuru clutched her phone as hard as she could and hunched over her knees. She held her head on one hand, and tried to take deep breaths. The felt the beginnings of paranoia encroaching on her consciousness. What if somebody had swapped bodies with one of the housekeepers? Has somebody been watching her every step? Listening to her every conversation? _Maybe IKARI has infiltrated, they'd jump at a chance to spy on me!_

"Alright… thank you Akira, I'm just a bit stressed. Forgive my outburst."

_*Of course, Madame. Have a good evening.*_

"Thank you."

CLICK

Chizuru's face was stony as she stood.

She looked up into the mirror before her.

How long as it been there? Who had installed it? It could be a single-way mirror, and there was a video recorder on the other side. It could be hitched to one of the IKARI satellites and _that Bastard_ could be sitting there, sipping his coffee and watching her.

The very thought caused rage to rise in her heart.

She laid a palm against the glass, and with a surge, it undulated and shattered to dust. Behind was a plain, white wall… but that offered no comfort.

_Too obvious. Heidern would never do that… the spycam has to be somewhere he knows I won't look… but where?!_

Everything looked suspicious, so she closed her eyes.

Her hands shook in terror and indignation, so she calmed her heart.

She was Chizuru Kagura.

She was the master of difficult decisions.

Renovations started now.

The Kagura Estate was composed of several buildings constructed over the centuries. Over the next two weeks, each would be bulldozed to the ground and rebuilt. Every tree would be cut down and burnt to ash. The mind of every person who worked here would fall under the strictest scrutiny.

She sighed.

_Nothing could be taken for granted. Everything… everyone must be checked. Immediately._

Everything would be burnt and replaced. Anyone who carried the slightest bit of suspicious would be burnt and replaced as well.

* * *

_heeey_

_Heey you know who else was burnt and replaced?_

_(rubs hands together)_


	4. Role Reversal

_Oohhh._

_Actually forgot about this lmao._

_Too much sad stuff in Tour RN._

* * *

"Welp, it's 8:30. Let's go to the office, I wanna iron out that third stanza of verse 1_, _I swear it's been bouncing around inside my head all last night and I need to write it down before I forget it. Howard... where the hell is your driver's license? We gotta go."

"...b-boss are you serious? Can't you… we take a sick day?"

Rock croaked out a response, but was ignored. He had collapsed on his employer's living room sofa and was still recovering from this morning's terrifying ordeal. He'd spent the past two hours suffering the worst pain he'd ever experienced, and at this point was just barely functional. He was halfway through sobbing his eyes out on Terry's shirt before he noticed his voice was _a lot _deeper than usual.

To say Rock was surprised to discover he … _wasn't himself, _would be an understatement. However, he was freaking out a lot less than Iori had (if Terry was to be believed). Somehow it made him feel better to hear his normally unflappable boss was so scared, that this morning he tried to peel his own face off. _At least I didn't do anything crazy… but boss is crazy to begin with...so..._

Regardless of what Iori was doing before, it looked like he had settled in (Rock's) body quite comfortably, and was intent on living life as if nothing was amiss. He had produced Rock's wallet, and busied himself rifling through it.

"I've got work to do, Howard. Besides, I'm feeling fine." He shook the contents of Rock's wallet onto the floor, and squatted down to pick through the cards, bills and coins. Terry startled from beside him, but Rock was already accustomed to his boss's profound rudeness, and stopped his father from doing anything rash. Iori continued as he sorted through gift cards. His voice was beginning to grate on Rock's ears. "Hey, where do you keep your license? I can't exactly use mine right now."

Iori looked up and indicated to his face.

_Oh shit._

Rock sucked air through his teeth and cursed himself- pain temporarily forgotten. Since they've begun working together - that is, for the past three months - Rock had taken every opportunity to drive Iori's classic Mustang. The teenager was a self confessed supercar fan, and Iori didn't mind getting chauffeured around. The only kink in the plan was… Rock didn't actually know how to drive. He had learned on the job, and had bashed Iori's expensive car into more curbs than he could remember. Thankfully, Iori didn't seem to notice, but Rock always felt this would eventually come 'round to bite him in the ass.

Looks like Karma chose a good time. Terry was sitting _right next to him, _and the police station was down the block.

Rock began to protest, but ended flinching at his own (new) voice.

"I haven't gotten one yet. Look, Iori - can we talk about this later? Let's go to work alright?! I'll drive."

Iori stood up and planted his hands on his hips to frown at him. Normally, this would be much more intimidating had he been in his normal body. But alas, Iori Yagami was 5'9, ruddy, blonde, and 19. He was the smallest person in the room by a long shot, and he needed to crane his neck to look anyone in the eye. Kyo Kusanagi, who had been silent for the most part, snickered from the couch. In response, the teenage 'Iori' immediately launched himself at the Japanese man and made a sorry attempt to punch him in the face.

Rock watched himself get wrestled into the floor with something akin to despair. It was so strange watching 'himself' march around, scream at things and be a general ass to everyone. Imagine he actually acted like that for a day? _God. _Rock was keenly reminded just how deranged his boss was, and just how desensitized he was to it. He glanced over to his dad. It looked like Terry was of the same mind.

It was only a couple of minutes before Iori tapped out and was allowed to climb to his feet again. He resumed the conversation as if they hadn't been interrupted by a ridiculously lopsided wrestling match. His voice was annoyingly shrill, and Rock made a silent promise to never yell at anyone, ever again. (Once he got his body back, that is.)

"What! How long have you been driving without a license?! Are you the reason my insurance is so high?... _Bitch, Do you how many tickets I'm getting in the mail?_"

Iori stomped over to his kitchen and began pulling envelopes filled with traffic infractions from one of the drawers. He brought them over, dumped them on the coffee table, and kicked open his bedroom door to supposedly find some more. Rock drove himself to his feet and hurried after him. Terry already had this glazed look in eyes, and learning he might be on the hook for about four thousand dollars in traffic fines, well… _that's not happening._

"Boss! Not now - _I'm serious. Just take it out of my paycheck! Hey! C'mon please. Don't show my dad! He's gonna flip!_"

"I'M FLIPPING RIGHT NOW, YOU LITTLE SHIT! WE'RE GONNA FIGURE OUT WHICH TICKETS ARE YOURS, AND WHICH ARE MINE."

"_Oh my god… look, let me- wait! come back!" _

Rock watched Iori gather up another pile of mail, and turn on his heel to start out the door. This pile was significantly larger than the last, and Terry wasn't going to appreciate it. Rock already saw his adoptive father making faces as he began reading through the tickets. If Iori brought this to him... he'd be _really _disappointed.

And Rock would rather get screamed at by Iori, than to disappoint his dad.

"Iori! get back in here! Don't step through that door!"

He reached out and grabbed his boss, forcibly stopping him in his tracks. It was surprisingly easy, since at that moment, Iori was significantly smaller than he was. Iori was also surprised and made a squacking noise. Both arms were occupied holding mail, so Iori made do with and glaring defiantly _up_ at him. Rock sucked on his lip, trying not to crack a grin at how dumb Iori looked.

"...Howard, let go of me. Now."

"Give me that first."

"Let go."

"..."

Rock didn't let go. Instead, he managed to block Iori's access to the door. They stared each other down for a moment. Well, Rock stared down at his boss, and it seemed Iori was uncomfortable finding that he was unable to shake Rock's grip off his arm, or otherwise push past. It wasn't that Rock's... _body _was weak. He was still growing - but couldn't match the strength not experience of veteren fighters. Normally that meant he tried not to get into fistfights with his boss unless it was basketball. But in this particular situation, it meant he was physically able to manhandle Iori Yagami.

"Last warning. Let go of me."

_"or what?"_

Iori was glaring at him. Halfway indignant, and halfway frustrated. He wasn't used to this. Rock smirked. He had to admit, he wouldn't mind being all grown up. Didn't Iori also have flames? Hmm...

The original owner of his body was starting to make noise again. Rock blinked down at him. Perhaps he would make use of the Yagami specialty... The constant death threats...

"What did you say to me?!...you little shit. I'll-

"_Hey boss, I'm pretty sure I can use your flames. You think I should try them?"_

"..."

Ah... Not a very good threat. Regardless, from the look on his boss's face, Iori couldn't believe his ears.

"Are you serious, Howard. Can you even contr- _Hey stop that. Not in the house! Put those away right now!"_

A bright purple flame ignited from his index finger and seared it's way across his arm, before he quickly terminated it. It would have been a lot cooler is it didn't hurt so badly. It was a miracle Rock hadn't cried out, but he was pretty sure he dropped a tear or two. Hopefully Iori didn't see.

"Dammit! Holy shit! Hey stop!

He hadn't. But he wasn't giving up his mail yet, so Rock made a motion to ignite again. It was pretty similar to using his own aura, just much more volitile and MUCH more painful. Iori had backed away, clearly panicking. It was so effective that, even though it felt like his arm was crisping up, Rock managed a smirk.

"You w-want me to stop?"

" Put those flames away. Dammit!"

"Then give me that m-mail."

How the hell did Iori make this look so easy? Damn, maybe fire wasn't so cool after all. Luckily, Iori looked like he was going to fold. Rock was eager to put the fire away, and never take it out again.

"_Give!"_

"..."

"_Thanks Boss. Let's go to work. I'll drive you."_

* * *

get shrecked Yag


	5. Daddy Doubt

_Daddy doubt_

* * *

Terry wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this _wildly bizarre _situation. After figuring out Iori Yagami and Rock Howard had somehow swapped bodies, both men in question had simply decided there was nothing they could do about it and figured the best thing to do was go about their typical routines. Terry wanted to send both to a psychiatric hospital, but the blonde teenager responded with a, _'Last time I went to the shrink, they prescribed me a lobotomy. Kagura'll handle it. Give her a week or two. I need to go to the office. Are you coming?'_

Of course he was. Rock Howard was... somewhere between these two guys, and Terry wasn't about to let his son run around the city suffering identity crisis. He didn't raise any more objections and decided to simply watch and observe.

The four of them had hopped into the Red Mustang and were off the SouthTown Central as if nothing strange had happened. The man - who was _apparently_ Rock in Iori Yagami's body - was viciously slamming the car through every pothole in the road like he was doing it on purpose. Obviously he wasn't, since he winced each time the car's bumper hit concrete, but Terry was now keenly aware of _why _the red-haired man was so miffed about those traffic tickets.

_Damn… this poor car. (BANG) ...Oh boy… _

The man in question, Iori Yagami, _claimed to be_ sitting in the backseat. He was glaring daggers into the back of 'Rock's' head and was obviously very upset that he now looked like his blonde-teenager-employee. His chief complaint had been finding his physical frame was weaker than what he was used to. Not only did he find himself lacking in his physical confrontation with his Japanese rival (that was quite standard. Kyo Kusanagi won almost all of their fights) But _additionally, _had found himself outmatched in his physical confrontation with his student, who had threatened him with his _own flames_.

_Hehe… that sucks_

Now, the man claiming to be Iori was sulking. Kyo Kusanagi was sitting beside him smirking, waggling his eyebrows, and trying to make his life even more miserable. It was honestly a pretty amusing situation. Clearly, Iori was used to be being the boss. Maybe getting demoted would teach him some humbleness - and hopefully caused him to dial back on his asshole-ness.

_Pff… as if. _

In any case, 'Iori' seemed to be holding up well enough. The person Terry was worried about was 'Rock'. He had a seizure this morning that looked _very _sinister, and even now, he was was clinging to the steering wheel as if he were battling something within him. Sometimes Rock had pain while using certain techniques, especially when tapping into the latent power in his pedigree. Recently he had been using them more often while sparring - with no outward ill effects... maybe all that practice was compounding on him? Because as they drove, Rock had been getting more and more tense. Even his teeth had begun… _chattering? _

"Hey Ior..._Rock_… you alright, bud?"

Rock's neck turned so quickly that Terry thought it would snap. He looked pained, and there was something a bit wild in his eyes. If Terry had believed this situation entirely, seeing that craziness would have made red-flags go off in his head. Unfortunately, Terry was still quite doubtful and 'Iori looking deranged' was something _very, very typical. _In fact, it was so typical, it made Terry doubt this whole 'body-swap' thing even further.

"Tired? It's been a rough morning, huh?"

"Y-yeah…"

Rock seemed to be having difficulty speaking. His voice was Iori's voice, but lacked the snarl. Honestly, Terry was still questioning his own sanity, because the situation was absolutely insane. Was this some sort of terrible fever dream? It certainly seemed so, whoever heard of such a thing? Body-swapping? It sounded like something straight out of science fiction. In fact, Terry's doubtwas further corroborated by the fact neither Kyo, Iori, nor Rock seemed to be panicking quite as much as he was.

_I mean… Kyo is pretty sensible… why isn't he freaking out?_

At this point, Terry was just going with the flow. Maybe... Iori and Rock really had decided to pull a prank on him. It was pretty unlikely, since Rock wasn't one for pranks, and Iori had no sense of humor - but Sci-Fi bodyswapping was _much _more unlikely then those two deciding to screw with him.

_...I bet Kyo's in on it? I dunno… I mean, Rock could have learned Japanese… well actually, he could have said anything Japanese sounding just to trick me? _

Yeah. This was probably some hidden camera stuff. Terry couldn't think of any motivation behind it. He couldn't imagine what sort of deal had been struck that _Iori Yagami _would call him 'Dad' and cling to him whilst crying into his shirt, nor cause Rock to try to peel his face off… but there were many things Terry didn't understand. He just needed to do the best with the information he had.

Terry turned to look in the backseat at 'Rock Howard'. He was facedown across the seat, complaining and struggling feebly. Kyo Kusanagi was sitting squarely on his back pinning the teenager into the leather. 'Rock' was clearly unhurt, but seemed _incredibly _frustrated. When Kyo noticed Terry frowning at them, he waved, grinned and attempted some bad English.

"_Helur Tehree."_

"Hey Kyo, can I talk to my son?"

Terry pointed at 'Rock'. Kyo poked his victim in the back of the head.

_(Ey, Yagami. Your Dad wants to chat.)_

_(Fuck you get off me-... oof… haah...)_

'Rock' sat up and turned his glare at him. 'Iori' - who claimed to be Rock Howard, and was occupied chattering his teeth and driving - looked over to him with something of confused betrayal on his face.

"What do you want, Bogard."

"We should head home."

Harder glaring. He curled his lip and crossed his arms. He sounded pretty mad. Damn, Terry had no idea how good of an actor Rock was.

"..._Excuse me? _Do I _look_ like your son?! I have things to do Bogard. I'm probably gonna look like this until Kagura figures out what's happening, and I'm not about to play house with you. Fuck right off."

"Hey! Language!"

"Langu-" Rock seemed to completely snap. He was actually… _really convincing. _Terry felt himself suddenly doubting this was a prank after all...

"Are fucking you kidding me?! You think this is a joke?! I'll kill you! Ack! _(Kusanagi let me go!)"_

Terry watched with a faraway look in his eyes as 'Rock' - who _might actually be_ Iori Yagami - made an unsuccessful lunge at him, was caught by Kyo Kusanagi, and was subject to another submission hold. He continued to yell at him, then alternatively at 'Iori' driving the car, whilst his face was pressed into the red leather.

"You'll kill me before I let you take me home! I'm not some dog you can just adopt, Bogard! Howard! Take a right and drop me at the DMV. I'm getting a driver's license. _(Kusanagi, let me go or I'm going to bite you, you fuck.)_"

* * *

_I mean, would you believe it?_

_Aight... looks like I'm back on the pain train. I just can't escape it lmao._


	6. Illness

_Guess who!?_

* * *

It had been three days since that morning, when Iori Yagami woke up as Rock Howard, and Rock Howard _screamed himself awake _as a red-haired lunatic. It took some time for Terry to wrap his head around the whole situation, but the conclusion he'd come to was just that. The person currently locked in Rock's room was _actually _Rock - despite the fact he looked like a red-haired Japanese man.

Rock Howard's body was probably carousing around the city, speaking Japanese and fistfighting KOF Champion Kyo Kusanagi in the streets. Terry had already seen the two of them blowing holes in the asphalt in the background of news broadcasts a couple of times, and it seemed that neither Iori or Kyo were taking the body-swap very seriously. They had placed the issue in the hands of Ms. Kagura, and were relying on her entirely to solve the issue. _Must be nice not having responsibilities. _

Nevertheless, Iori Yagami was quite capable of taking care of himself in whatever situation he happened to be in. In fact, he seemed quite a bit cheerier and more relaxed than usual. He also seemed to communicate more clearly. When Terry asked him about it, he had replied with, '_Cuz Riot's over there with Howard. It's pretty nice having the whole brain to myself. Don't worry, I told Riot to play nice. If it starts acting up, just break my arm. Please don't break my leg.' _

And with that, Iori Yagami and his new driver's license roared down the street and disappeared. Terry had seen neither hide nor hair of him since that fateful afternoon. Instead, SouthTown's Legendary Wolf found himself a full time parent, doing his best to take care of Rock - whose condition had only gotten worse over the past three days.

_Rocky… ugh… _

The first day, Rock acted mostly like himself. He still cooked (he banged his head on lots of cabinets), he still did his homework, he seemed embarrassed to go to school - which Terry understood 100%. All in all, although it was intensely weird, Terry thought he'd get used to it.

Unfortunately, '_Terry getting used to it'_ was the least of their problems. That glint on lunacy in Rock's eyes - apparently, the 'Riot' Iori was now temporarily free of - had begun taking a toll on him. His shaking had worsened. His expression was constantly strained, and he seemed to be in pain. When Terry tried to ask him about it, he got nothing but '_Don't worry Dad' _and '_I'm fine'_, when Rock was very obviously not fine.

_Should I just… break down the door and drag him to the hospital?_

It had been about 24 hours since Terry had seen his son, and he was fairly certain Rock hadn't eaten anything since cooking dinner two nights ago. He had locked himself in his room and only wandered out in the dead of the night. Terry had caught a glimpse of him whilst half asleep last night, and found his-_(Iori's frame) _looking incredibly gaunt. Unfortunately, Rock had disappeared back into his room before Terry could catch him and try to feed him something.

_Oh man… what do I do… _

Terry's child-rearing experience had been much smoother than most. When he took Rock in, the boy was eleven years old - extremely well behaved, and seemed to live in a constant fear of having something thrown at him. It took about a month for the young boy to recognize Terry wasn't out to hurt him, and another to recognize that Terry was going to take care of him. After that, it'd been mostly flowers and rainbows… and flowers and rainbows taught Terry jack shit about what to do when his twenty-year old adult son was suddenly beset with voices in his head, tried to starve himself, and locked himself in his room.

… _Mary said she'd stop by and try to convince him… haah… maybe I'll call her. _

Unfortunately for Terry, Mary was quite busy. She had been doing overtime for the past week, and Terry hardly saw her. She was supposed to have yesterday off - and they were looking forward to sharing dinner and a conversation - but she had texted him last minute to frantically explain something had come up at work, and she needed to stay. Hopefully whatever she needed to do had finished, because Terry needed someone to share this weird situation with, and maybe bounce some ideas off of.

Terry flipped open his phone and found Mary's contact. He sighed and slumped into the couch, careful not to kick over his coffee mug. He glanced at Rock's bedroom door as the dial tone rang.

_*Brrrrrrr*_

_*Brrrrrrr*_

_*Terry? Hey hon.*_

She sounded pretty flustered.

"Hey Mary, what's up. Hey, Rock's acting a little weird, and I-"

_*Oh man… (What?! Are you serious? Who the hell is this guy?!)... ah, sorry Terry, I think I've gotta go. There's some crazy going around slashing people up… stay safe out there, hon.*_

"... What? Like a killer?"

_*Yeah, we're not sure who or what it is. Maybe a gang? Geese said it wasn't him… I've gotta go, I'll talk to you later, okay?*_

"Ah, sure… Stay safe out there, babe."

_*Will do. (Let's go guys! Move! move! move!)*_

* * *

_C'mon, guess! lol_


	7. Liver

_FakeMary is pretty good man._

* * *

Officer Mary Ryan was tired.

She'd been on duty for a week straight, working overtime. Geese's gang was up to something, they were snooping around the undersides of bridges and seemed to be setting up some shady deals. The SouthTownPD was investigating them… which meant Mary was investigating them. She had been on stakeout for what felt like an eternity, and when gang activity _finally died down - _and she had set her mind on a few days off, some slasher decided to pay SouthTown a visit.

_Ugh… what the hell is this… _

So this cold, drab morning, Officer Mary Ryan had dragged herself out of bed at 4 in the morning to observe a alleyway murder scene by the light of the pale dawn. Two bodies, a man and a woman were hunched up together beside a dumpster. Both were mauled beyond recognition, as if by a wild animal. It was difficult to see where the woman ended and the man began. Gore splattered the floors and walls, as if the killer was trying to make some artistic statement. It was truly a sick display of violence. She almost gagged just looking at it.

"Detective… their livers are missing."

"Their livers? Torn or cut?"

Several officers were already on scene. One - Officer Johnny saw her and called out to her. Mary put away her disgust. She switched out of civilian mindset, put on her work-brain, and approached the scene with nothing but deduction in mind. She snapped on a pair of nylon gloves and kneeled down to scour the murder scene for evidence.

"No ma'am, cut out. Look, do you see this?"

Someone shone a flashlight into the man's guts and pointed.

"See? Right here. A clean incision, like a scalpel. It's not a wild animal. It's the guy from last night. Freeman came out to kill again. He also took the livers... We've gotta get him… we expedited the DNA test, but unfortunately there's no match on file. You gotta wonder what sorta sick bastard he is."

"Freeman?"

"Oh, Sorry Ms. Ryan. That's the nickname we've given him - since victim #1 was on Freeman St."

"Ah. Understood."

Mary frowned and squatted down to peer at the deceased's injuries. Some of the body was bludgeoned with tremendous force. Other parts were slashed to ribbons as if by the sharpest of knives. Upon closer observation, _even the bone_ had been sheared through like butter. Was this murderer wielding a lightsaber or something? _wait..._

_Livers… cutting… excessive violence… isn't there somebody who talks about livers a lot… think Mary… _

The Gears began turning in her head. She… yeah, she had a hunch… and she dearly hoped her hunch was wrong. She stood and turned to one of the attending officers, hugging her coat a bit tighter about herself as she did.

"Johnny, you said you found a sample for DNA? What was it."

"Hair, ma'am. Although there's no ID, we do know the killer is a male."

Mary nodded.

"What color?"

"Red."

"How red?"

The officer frowned at her. Evidently he didn't know where this line of questioning was headed.

"How red? Uh, Pretty red, I guess. We originally thought it was because it had been soaking in blood, but when we cleaned it, it was actually dyed."

Mary squeezed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth. There were several people in SouthTown that the police department simply did not touch. One was Geese Howard. The Police chased his flunkies around, but they never dared to go after him directly. It was simply too dangerous. Another, Terry Bogard - although there was never a need for the police to take him in for anything… _finally _there was probably the scariest one of them all.

Because Geese had his business to run, he didn't screw around that much. That man could probably level a block if he wanted to, but even he had shareholders to pander to and contracts to abide by. Terry - although ridiculously strong - was a good guy who's only fault (concerning the law) were his tremendous amount of unpaid tabs.

_Iori Yagami?_

That bastard was entirely unhinged. Zero accountability. Zero responsibility. Known for his excessive violence and tremendous ability. Mary had seen the reports of what he had done to the NESTS facility in Iceland. He had melted the place into a pool of molten steel. There was no way the SouthTownPD could take him on… at least not without the backing of the US military.

_Damn... _

But there _were _a select few who could…

Normally, Mary was quite prideful. She liked to handle work on her own. She tended not to rely on outside help for her own jobs… but for this situation, she would call whoever she needed to… because if Iori Yagami had decided to go postal… he'd have to die. Someone needed to put him down - and Mary was smart enough to know SouthTown PD weren't up for _that_ job.

She sighed and turned back toward the entrance of the alleyway. She pulled out her phone, placed a call, and barked orders to the other officers as the dial tone rang.

"It's Yagami… Clean this place up and send me a sample of that DNA. I'm going to confirm with overseas. Do not engage under any circumstances, understood?"

The officer looked shocked. Of course he did. Iori was quite friendly with the police around these parts. These guys didn't know how insane their '_noise complaints buddy' _could be.

"What? You mean Lorry? No way…but-" The officer mulled over the prospect, then grimaced. "Oh, damn… if it's really him, then... fuck."

Mary nodded at him and walked out of the alleyway.

After a moment,

_*Thank you for calling Kagura Pharmaceuticals Executive Department, how may I direct your call?*_

* * *

_Iori threatens to eat ppl's livers a lot._


	8. The Deep Sea

_I needed to have this because otherwise transation is too shit_

* * *

…

_Am I… dead? _

Surely not… that beating, that was his heartbeat. Right?

_Definitely… is has to be._

As he lay suspended in this inky, velvety darkness, he listened to it - pounding away as if from very far away. He could barely hear it, but he clung to it. The faint pulse in the distance… because it was the only evidence he was still alive.

And Rock Howard desperately wanted to be alive.

This absolutely could not be the end. This is just a nightmare. A very, very long nightmare. One of these days, he was going to wake up and everything was going to be just like before. Maybe he was in… a coma? The last thing he remembered was cooking dinner, then laying down to sleep… then… he just _didn't wake up_.

_This has to be a dream… I'm lucid dreaming, that's it..._

It had been like this for… Rock didn't even know. He had 'woken' to this deep darkness with no explanation whatsoever. He remembered looking around-... well, he didn't really _look _persay. He had no eyelids as he was, nor eyes, nor _anything. _He willed himself to look, and saw nothing. He willed himself to move, but there was nothing to move. He had no flesh… but he could feel. Something in him knew this place was warm and deep and quite inescapable. It made him tired. This place - wherever it was - was telling him to sleep. Telling him to let go and drift off and accept this new reality...

_No, no..._

If he accepted the fact he had died, and he would be here - alone, in this dark, muted hell - forever… well, he certainly would have tipped into despair long ago. He simply wouldn't. He couldn't give up hope. The beating from afar, it meant he was alive. He heard it increasing and decreasing periodically… that meant he was out there… doing something, right?

_Is… Riot out there? _

That was terrifying in its own right. Perhaps Iori's alter ego - the same one who had attacked him this morning, was out there, dressed like him and carousing around. Rock had had very few interactions with the Riot - but he had seen enough to know it was a wildcard. Sometimes it just stood there, grinning and doing nothing… and sometimes it killed people.

_Is dad okay? I wonder if he's worried… does he know I'm still here?_

There were no happy endings to this situation. Either he had died and this is how he would exist for the rest of eternity _(inconceivable!)_, or he was in a coma - which would last however many years it would last _(horrible!)_, or he had been possessed by the Blood Riot _(Also terrible) _and potentially releasing a murderer to the streets.

_Has this ever happened to boss? Oh man… Ugh, Dad… I'm scared. _

Rock sighed - _(ah)_ he _tried_ to sigh, but without lungs and lips, he simply made do with feeling disappointed. He calmed his heart as best he could, collected all his thoughts and tried to remember. Riot had killed Yashiro a couple of months ago, right? And Iori had no recollection of it… maybe this is where he was when Riot took over? _Maybe this is how it's supposed to be?_

_Dammit Iori… why didn't you tell me anything before just driving away… ugh. Okay… shh, it's temporary… Boss always comes back..._

It was a mere theory, a far-fetched one. But Rock was good at convincing himself of things. He listened to the heartbeat in the distance and set his mind on it. It was speeding up again, pounding away as if under great exertion. Maybe he was running laps?

_Yeah… I had better be running laps…_

* * *

_Broocky._


	9. Big-Man Kusanagi

_Yag eating that humble pie._

_the moment when you start a new character, and forget you didn't have your endgame-tier items._

* * *

"Ey Gammy."

"Fucking kill yourself, Kusanagi."

They were sitting in his favorite Barbecue spot, and - per usual - were sniping at each other. Iori was more annoyed than usual, since for the past three days he'd been _absolutely bulldozed _by his rival. Granted, as much as it hurt him to say - Kyo _did _usually beat him, if only by a sliver… but _now, _Kyo was toying with him. This morning, the man had taken several punches to the gut without even bothering to dodge. If Iori had his normal body, he would never have risked such a thing.

_Dammit Howard… _

Well, the plus side was Iori found himself hurting a _lot _less than normal. Kyo pretty much spent the entire duration of their '_battles'_ calling him a wimp and pushing him over. He had collected a couple of scrapes and bruises, but nothing too serious. Also, nobody got set on fire, so for the first time in a long while, they didn't stink like a chimney stack.

"Nah man… look, you're in the news."

Iori snorted.

"I'm always in the news."

Kyo was scrolling through news articles on his phone with one hand, and shoveling mouthfuls of pickled radish into his face with the other. He had been here for three days already, and usually left after two. Normally, Iori would have kicked him out by now - but with his current _predicament _it was nice having somebody familiar around. Besides, he was pretty bored. Having the brain to himself was nice, but at the same time, it was pretty lonely. But with Kyo here, they just hopped from restaurant to restaurant to coffee shop to street stand, and participated in lopsided wrestling matches in between. Iori was thankful he had forgotten to cancel the bank card he had issued to Rock during the June Tour - otherwise he would likely have emptied his employee's accounts. _Good mistakes... but what did the little shit buy on my dime?! _

Kyo interrupted his monologue.

"Nah man... like _bad _news. Serious news. Not just speculations on your disaster of a sex life."

"What! _My sex life isn't a disas-_"

"Yeah, _sure,_ man. Yuki loves to read gossip magazines, and apparently you're in every _single issue_ with some article attached about the weird shit you're into. But... Seriously. Here. Take a look."

Kyo's voice had started out mocking, but had dropped into a serious tone. He handed his phone across the table. Iori let the last comment slide, and received it with a frown. He squinted down as he read the article.

_Three day rampage, new SouthTown Serial killer nicknamed 'Freeman' terrorizing the night. Four victims thus far have been found, all had been brutalized and had their livers cut out. Please stay vigilant as the police investigate the matter. _

Iori blinked. _Livers? I certainly sounds like Riot._

He scrolled down to find a grainy photo, evidently a still taken from a CCTV camera. Red hair unkempt and splayed across his face. Posture, hunched over and wiry. Even with the terrible quality, one could see the insanity rolling off the figure. Without a doubt, it was him - _if_ he had managed to lose ten pounds over the past four days… _Damn… Riot you little shit. _

Kyo interrupted his thoughts.

"That's you, right? I mean… you look really thin in the picture, but still."

"...It's Riot."

Iori sighed and put down his chopsticks. He must have sounded pretty stressed, because Kyo bit back his neverending flow of stupid remarks to shut up for once. He appreciated the silence… because he really needed to think. _What the hell am I supposed to do… _

Iori had a ton of experience playing mental footsies with his alter-ego, but _actually fighting? _Physically fighting? He had never done it before. He never had the opportunity, and frankly was not looking forward to it. He had never formulated, nor imagined the need to formulate, any counter-measures against Riot's erratic fighting style.

_It might attack me… I mean… shit… _

Would it? Riot could recognize him, but that certainly didn't mean he was safe. If Riot got violent - and he obviously had been riding that violence train for the past two days - Iori wasn't sure if he could fight him off, especially since he didn't have flames.

_Ah shit… yeah, Riot will kill me… Dammit!_

Riot! That little shit _knew _who he was - it _knew _it wasn't supposed to run around the city and kill people, and yet - here he was, reading the newspaper and discovering he was SouthTown's newest serial murderer. What the hell was Howard doing in there? Did Riot do something to him? Did he just… fully take over? _Eat him up?_ _Crush the boy's consciousness? _

_Chill, Yagami… _

"Hey Yag,"

Iori raised his head, Kyo was asking for his phone back. Iori handed it over without complaint.

"So...You gonna do something about it? I mean, the kid. He's probably in trouble."

"... yeah. No shit."

Kyo started looking smug. He leaned forward and waggled his finger. Iori furrowed his brow and curled his lip.

"_You_ need my help, don't ya, Gammy."

His voice was _so incredibly annoying _that Iori simply could not make the admission - even if he knew he needed his rival's help.

"..."

Instead, he glared as hard as he could, and with as much hatred as he could muster. Kyo had begun sniggering.

"Aww, What's that face? You don't wanna ask? You're not about to go fight Riot on your own, right? I know you're dumb - but surely you're not _that _dumb. You'll walk outta there looking like a piece of fried chicken... Come on. Ask nicely and Big Man Kusanagi will make sure nobody hurts you."

"_..._"

Kyo waggled his eyebrows and, as if on cue, Iori's self-control snapped in half. He yelled something incomprehensible and lunged forward to attack the grinning man goading him along. The bastard began to cackle, and Iori was filled with the overwhelming desire to choke the life out of him.

"_You piece of shit I'll kill you!"_

Unfortunately, in that moment, Iori forgot he was no longer heatproof, and planted his palm on the barbecue stove as a pivot to vault over the table. The pain wasn't bad, but was so unexpected his snarl became a yelp, and the shock threw off his trajectory. He ended up missing his target entirely and barreled headfirst into the chair next to Kyo.

"_Hahahaha~ oh my god… _Bitch, you alright?"

Iori didn't reply. He had managed to wedge his entire upper body in the gap between the seat, and the backrest of the restaurant chair, and was stuck there. He decided not to embarrass himself further and just dangled there. He stared alternatively at the floor, the restaurant's confused patrons, and his bright red, blistering palm. He shut his eyes and dropped his head.

Kyo was having the time of his life. He was barely getting words out between giggling like a schoolgirl, snorting, and choking on his own breath.

"_Aww, (hahahaha) come on, man. Hey, let's go. You alright? I told you, you were gonna burn yourself. Hey, Hey! I'll pull you out. Let's go get Riot, okay?... Hey, Yag?"_

* * *

_Kyo is the best ngl. He decided to stick around to help out because Yag found himself in a pickle. He was supposed to go home like 2 days ago._

_ofc that doesn't mean he's not gonna troll the shit outta best boi._


	10. Hunting Party

_Reviving dead fics?_

_I actually need to finish this. I want new age Rock so bad._

* * *

"...So you're saying your crazy split personality took control of the body from Rock, and is now running around?"

Terry deadpanned at the two men splayed over his living room couch. Iori was doing his worst to explain the inner workings of his mind - and thereby the situation Rock was currently dealing with now that they had mysteriously swapped bodies. According to Iori, he had some voices in his head (not surprising) and they _weren't _just his own fevered imaginings (very surprising). Now that Rock was inhabiting his body - _he _was now dealing with those voice.

Ridiculous, to say the least. Iori seemed to think it was reasonable.

"Yeah, pretty much. Orochi's not that big a deal. He has better things to do than talk to me. Riot though - he's the issue. Lil bitch decided since I'm not watching him, it's okay to cut loose - and now he's out there roaming around eating livers."

"_Did you tell him Rock is actually Freeman?"_

"_Shut the fuck up Kusanagi. I get to it when I get to it."_

Terry sighed and pinched his brow as he watched Kyo and Iori bicker amongst themselves in their native language. This would have been an extremely pedestrian scene if Iori wasn't wearing Rock Howard's body. It was just so strange hearing Japanese spoken in his son's voice. In addition, Terry noticed his Rock's frame to be a bit bulkier than usual. These two had probably spent the last three days doing nothing but eating and exercising.

_Enjoying the time huh… _

Terry shook his head and demanded an audience. He glared at Kyo (who had Iori in a chokehold) until he let his victim go.

"Alright… Iori… eating livers? What is that supposed to mean? Can you tell me straight? Don't give me your weird lingo."

Kyo and Iori looked at each other and grimaced. After a few seconds of snappy discussion, they fumbled about with Kyo's cellphone and eventually managed to pass it to Terry. The phone displayed an article from the SouthTown Times titled 'NEW SERIAL KILLER AT LARGE'. Immediately below the headline the article presented a still from CCTV footage. The photo was grainy, and of low-quality, but it didn't take too much imagination to figure out who it might be. Terry stared at that image and formed his own conclusions.

_Holy moly._

Terry didn't know what to feel in that moment. Shame? Anger? Grief? For god's sake - his son was out there murdering people? _Eating people's livers?_ Ridiculous! Rock Howard would never kill anyone. Terry had raised him better than that. The very thought was offensive, and Terry made his displeasure known. He slammed his palm against the tabletop and leaned over to glare at his son's accusers. Kyo flinched. Iori didn't. He was back in the chokehold.

"It's not Rock. Don't come to me with this bullshit Yagami. Are you trying to frame him, or something? My boy would never do something so disgusting. Get real with me!"

Iori just rolled his eyes and choked out a response. Kyo had loosed his grip around his companion's neck, and was resting his chin on top of Iori's head - who had since given up trying to escape. Instead, he directed his full attention to jabbing aggressively at the air to enunciate his speech.

"Look Bogard. I'm not fucking around. This is how Howard lost it the last time he rioted. He wasn't cutting livers that time, but now that he's running with my kit - he's got all the tools he needs. I'm telling you, Riot is obsessed with Pate. He'll be going after livers. What the hell do you want me to tell you?"

Terry blinked. Suddenly confused. The air grew quiet and Terry let his voice grow low and threatening.

"..._Last time? _What do you mean the '_last time'._"

Silence. More discussion in Japanese. There was a moment when Kyo looked shocked, followed by the look of concern. Obviously, these two were discussing whether or not to disclose whatever secret information they were harboring… although it was hard to believe someone of Iori's coherence managed to keep any secrets.

After a moment, Iori responded. It wasn't the answer Terry wanted.

"If you need to know, ask Rock… once we catch him. If we don't find him before the police do - someone's gonna shoot him. Me and _this asshole" _he elbowed Kyo "Are gonna go look for him. You in this or not?"

* * *

_With this and Street Game, lot of Police activity._

_This happens before SG btw._


	11. Technobabble

_Back to this_

* * *

"Substance of the soul? Macdougall?"

Doctor Curry sighed and held her chin in her hand. Back in the lab, she had something very delicate synthesizing, and had cleared her schedule to monitor it… but alas, her employer and benefactor had pulled her away for an emergency meeting. Something that seemed to happen at the most critical moments in Curry's experimental procedures.

Still… As much as Dr. Curry distrusted her assistants to manage the solution properly, it was something she could always repeat. The only loss would be her time, and some costly materials. If she scorned Chizuru Kagura and incurred her fickle wrath, the potential loss was immeasurable. After all - what other employer could provide you with a near endless stream of funds, facilities, and subjects to test your theories on?

So as annoyed as Dr. Curry was, the genius twenty-eight year old blonde 'bimbo' seated herself across from Chizuru Kagura's office desk and entertained the young, but ridiculously influential, businesswoman. Truly, Curry was shocked at how Kagura managed to build such an empire at such a tender age… and thereby paid her the respect she was due. She was a genius in her own right.

But right now, the conversation's topic was in Curry's element. Not Kagura's. She carefully educated the young CEO.

"Macdougall? 21 Grams? Nonsense. Of course not. I don't dabble in pseudoscience, Madame Kagura… and neither did NESTS. Macdougall was a hack… but _Makishima_ wasn't. There are things in this world we cannot see, yet still may harness. One of them? The Soul. Do you follow?"

Chizuru Kagura's face said no, but she uttered an affirmative anyways. Curry didn't slow down, lest she be asked to explain further. The longer she was sitting here with her funding, the more opportunity her assistants had to screw up her synthesis.

"Makishima had nicknamed the project FETS. Perhaps partways as jest, partways for security. After all, it one one of his final - and most ambitious projects before he expired. The ability to transfer the soul from one vessel to another - much in the same way Orochi chooses his vessels. The process is as follo-"

Chizuru blinked at her with glazed eyes, and held up a hand - requesting a respite from what she (rather offensively dubbed) 'technobabble'. Curry complied and fell silent. She managed to sneak a glance at her watch as she did so.

"Curry… I trust you. There's no need to explain the intricacies of this… _FETS._ I have a situation with Yagami and his American. They've woken up in eachother's bodies, and as far as I can tell - all hell is breaking loose. Can you fix it?"

Curry arched an eyebrow?

"Somebody else's soul is living in that walking biological disaster? Well… we'd better set them right before the poor boy goes nuts. I can't do it in the field… bring them to the Tokyo labs, and I'll set them right."

Chizuru slumped in her chair and sighed in relief. She offered her a faint smile, and led with a follow-up.

"Well Curry, you never cease to amaze. One more thing - for security reasons… is there any way to detect when somebody has been swapped? _Ah… _under the influence of these '_FETS'_?"

Curry stiffened very slightly, then offered an equally glacial smile. She kept her voice even.

"Unfortunately that's impossible, Madame Kagura."

"..._impossible?_"

Chizuru had obviously expected her to elaborate. Instead, Curry stood from her seat and offered a stiff bow.

"Apologies Madame Kagura… there are still some things I'm simply unable to do. Please excuse me."

* * *

_Short and sweet._


	12. Biohazard

_1 Hour. Let's goo_

* * *

"And Don't touch my blood. If you get any on you - bring it to Kusanagi and he'll roast it off. If you get any _in you. _We've gotta send you to Kagura otherwise you'll turn into a zombie."

At that, Terry blinked at the two men… or rather, one man, and one teenager, sitting in the backseat of his car. Iori was leaned over the back of The driver's seat and debriefing their small team on all the biohazards they'd be facing while hunting down Freeman (Rock Howard, Rioted out, in Iori Yagami's body), and the appropriate countermeasures to take. At a certain point, Terry was convinced Iori was just screwing around with him, but Iori didn't screw around that much - and he certainly looked serious.

Still… Acidic blood? Zombie Virus? _If he's not lying… then how the hell is he alive, much less walking around…?_

Still, Terry didn't question him.

Iori didn't look very eager to go hunting for his coked out split personality and seemed immensely relieved when Terry agreed to join the hunt. Terry also knew Iori had worked with IKARI for a long time, and at the very least, was trained in how to debrief a group before a military operation. It really was a weird thing hearing him talk so seriously.

"Next, Riot tends not to use fire unless he's in a pinch. You won't see him spitting flames unless he feels cornered - and at that point, you need get the fuck out of there. Avoid line of sight as much as possible. If you find yourself running, you need to exert as much aura-power-chi, whatever you've got - otherwise you're gonna get flame in you - and you might have your limbs blasted off."

Terry blinked, then nodded as he continued driving down toward the city slums. He eyed the blonde teenager lecturing him from the backseat of his car, and then at the other Sacred Treasure, who seemed quite content to enjoy the views flashing by the window. Neither of them seemed too worried about the manhunt about to take place. From what Iori was telling him - they were attempting to capture alive a very dangerous, very venomous animal which spit thousand degree flames when threatened.

_What a nightmare… Rocky… what are you doing in there? Can you see what's happening from inside? Are you watching yourself attack people?_

Iori continued to babble in his ear.

"I talked to some of my Police contacts and they said they were gonna try and stall the operation a bit. I figure we've got about an hour head start to find this lil' bitch before the police snipe him from a helicopter. Thankfully Kusanagi's got a radar, and he can track him - since he's still got my Magatama. Once you engage - the best way to confront is to immediately disable him. Don't try to talk or reason, because Riot barely understands English."

Terry spoke up.

"Disable? Like… how. Normally you can't take hits… and on the CCTV you looked awful. A good punch could kill you on the spot. Do you have a plan?"

Iori didn't miss a beat.

"Go ahead and break my arm. Riot doesn't feel pain, but he'll be confused as to why his arm doesn't work. Take the opportunity to suffocate him. _Please_ don't break my leg. Once we've got'em, Kagura has got a helicopter waiting for us at the local airstrip on Fifteenth. Kusanagi! _(Are we close)_?"

_(Rapid Japanese)_

"Bogard, take a left."

* * *

_Yag's not entirely useless, see?_


	13. Caught in the Act!

_riot is honestly adorable bloodthirsty animal_

* * *

Riot absolutely knew he was going to be in big trouble for this. A couple of days ago, the original owner of this body- the King who commanded this entity- had disappeared.

_(Scratch… scratch…)_

King was quite forceful. Quite powerful in his own right. It took a lot of effort to break him down and lock him out of the body so Riot could take over and play. He had done it once with Orochi's help… but it was difficult on his own.

(_Plup...plup…)_

Recently, the owner had been givng him more and more leeway concerning the body. Thursdays he was always let out to play paintball and eat whatever he could find in the fridge. Sometimes the woman who lived downstairs fed him baked lemon bars. Sometimes 'Orange' stopped by and took him around the city. Those days were fun…

_(Crunch.)_

But it was much, much more fun when he got to go on those wonderful IKARI field trips with 'Blue' and the stuffy Commander. It was there Riot was allowed to - even encouraged - to kill and kill and kill and kill…

To bathe in blood. To tear skin from muscle, and muscle from tendon, and tendon from bone, until he reached the shiny organs beneath. They were the treasures everyone was hiding from him. He was filled with immeasurable joy when gaze on those beautiful things…

_And crushed them in his hands._

He did like it very much. Very very much. But - king had insisted - he only do that kind of 'painting' while out with his IKARI friends. Of course, he did his best to comply, because if he annoyed the owner, perhaps he'd never go on another field trip again!

To say they were the highlight of his life was no understatement. Truly he lived for the field trips with Commander and 'Blue'... And he hadn't been on one for what felt like _months. _

And he'd been antsy.

He'd been looking at people from behind the owner's eyes, and all he could do was imagine how their insides felt like when he crushed them.

So… when the owner of the body suddenly disappeared to be replaced by the very cute and adorable Ducky… well… it was only a matter of time before Riot succumbed to his impulses.

Because Ducky had never dealt with him before. Ducky didn't know how to hold strong control over the body. His mind was all over the place and he hardly had any defenses… almost like he had never needed them in his life.

Of course, Riot _did _like Ducky. He liked him very much. He looked nice, and he smelled nice, and Riot was sure his guts tasted fantastic… but even if Riot liked him, that didn't mean he was going to _obey him_.

So he'd taken over, blinded Ducky, and locked him out. It had been nearly 3 days since he usurped the throne, and Riot had certainly fulfilled his cravings. Even now, he was crouching in a dirty alleyway, digging through the guts of a man he'd sniffed out this morning. He was pretty hungry. _Very hungry indeed._ but whatever he ate - he vomited up. Perhaps Ducky's unconscious was rejecting the liver? Riot wasn't sure.

Well, the only thing to do was try again. Kill and eat, and maybe he wouldn't throw up…

...

Ah.

No luck.

* * *

Vegan time


	14. Operation

_Ihope Terry doesn't snap Yag's neck lmao_

* * *

_(Did he see us?)_

_(nope… he's busy working on a dude.)_

_(Whoa… you mean… he kil-)_

_(Ah yuck, he keeps throwing up… shit man. Go out there and stop him!)_

Terry glanced down at the two Japanese men quietly bickering beside him, and sighed. They were all crouched on the dusty ground near the entrance of a narrow alleyway, and Iori was laying on the floor - observing their target through a set of binoculars. He primarily provided commentary in Japanese, but switched to English whenever Terry poked him in the back.

"Yagami, do you see him?"

"Yup. He's not gonna move for a bit… _(Kusanagi, how should we attack?)_"

_(You're asking me?)_

_(Well I've never fought him before… )_

Terry grumbled as his translator failed to translate anything, and stood straight to brush the dust off his jeans. He carefully climbed over his unhelpful companions (he accidentally kicked Kyo - patted an apology, and stepped on Iori - who turned to glare at him) and peeked around the corner.

_There. _

Freeman… the strange amalgamation of three entities, was currently hunched over the body of his latest victim. The man… no… _creature _was gaunt, almost unrecognizable from a couple of days ago, and seemed to be attempting to nourish itself with his victim's innards. How could he have become so emaciated over such a short period of time? Terry had no idea. Even so - although Freeman appeared dangerously frail, it was clear he still retained some kind of monster strength, judging by the state of his victim, who had been bludgeoned into nothing more than a pulpy mash. Terry wrinkled his nose at the vile sight, it made it all the worse that Rock was in there... somewhere.

_Rocky… are you okay?_

Behind him, Kyo and Iori continued to converse. Terry noticed that Kyo hadn't actually peeked out to look at the scene yet. Maybe he was squeamish? Maybe he didn't need to. Iori had probably given him ample description of what was going on in that alleyway. They continued chattering.

_(Sounds like a plan... should we go get him already? Shit man… I think I'm gonna need a feeding tube or something once I get back in there. What the hell did Riot do to me?)_

_(Didn't you just say he keeps throwing up? That'll do it.)_

_(Huh… yeah.)_

Iori's tone was rather nonchalant. He didn't seem disturbed by what he was observing in great detail through binoculars. It was as if the gory scene was something fairly pedestrian to him. Terry frowned down at the man currently inhabiting his son's body. His mind flew back to several months ago, when Rock called him over the phone - frantic over the idea his employer might have been a serial murderer. At the time, Terry had brushed off the possibility… _but Rock's still working with him… so surely not..._

Well… now wasn't a good time to address that…

"Hey Bogard,"

Terry blinked back into reality as he heard his native language. Iori was still laying at the ground, binoculars pushed against his face, as he translated the instructions Kyo was feeding him. Kyo had turned toward Terry and was making complicated hand motions whilst speaking Japanese. He pointed at the fire escape.

"Climb up the fire escape and get ready to jump down and grab that bastard. Careful that you don't get scratched. Knock him as quick as you can. I'm gon-..._Kusanagi's_ gonna charge him head on and distract him. Give me a signal when you're in position. Questions?"

* * *

Also, Rock has not yet disclosed to Terry what had happened during tour. He didn't intend to at all.

Terry also doesn't believe Yag is a serial murderer and really kills people that often... which... kinda doesn't work so well since Mary would prolly spill beans...

It's a bit of a problme for me tbh.

because I don't really want Terry breaking Yag's neck


	15. Surface for Air

_ever wondered why Yag has such a good sense for counting beats?_

_Well now Rock knows_

* * *

Something was happening.

The heartbeat had grown louder. Until now, it had always been barely in the distance, like ships on a distant horizon. He needed to strain to listen to it. Now, it had become loud. Painfully loud. Rapid pounding which boomed in his mind, threatening to flatten his thoughts and make him numb. That frequency and volume modulation had been Rock's only sensory input for… how long now? A day? A week? A month?

_It's pretty loud… what's going on..._

Rock, alerted, listened closely. Even though it hurt - he listened. He counted the beats carefully. Counting. Counting. 98 bpm… 101bpm… 106 bpm… He'd become quite good at counting. Boss would certainly be proud of him next time they had practice. That is, if he ever had practice again… if he ever got out of here...

_Rocky… shhh… it's gonna be okay. Stop it. Concentrate._

Of course, Rock wasn't sure if it was a heartbeat. It certainly sounded like one, and he dearly wished it to be (since that meant he wasn't dead), but it had been his only hope since he'd been plunged into this inky world of darkness. A world without form or feeling. It was a world consistent solely of that pounding. Pounding. Pound-

_*ssskkh* _

_*pheeewww*_

What was that!? Breath?!

Rock grew excited. He strained to listen. He willed his formless body upwards through non-existent space. He strained toward reality. Reality strained toward him.

_Do you hear that Rocky? It's breath. It's my breathing… fuck, I'm alive! I'm alive! _

Elation tore through him. He clawed upwards. He rallied all of his being to chase that singular goal. _Up! _He tore through the darkness. He strained toward the source of the sound.

_*Sssskkkkh*_

_*Pheeewww*_

*_Kkkkkkkaaauggh*_

Rock paused. Suddenly concerned. Certainly. Breath. He heard breath… and choking? Gagging? What's going on. Was he in danger?

He scrabbled onwards, swimming through the murky blackness. Pressing forwards, yet unsure if he had moved at all. Still, in his panic, he persisted. The sound of breath being slowly squeezed out of his lungs drove him on.

_(Alright… c'mon buddy… urgh)_

He broke the surface. He cleared that murky ocean. Everything hit him at once, but he registered the pain first. It had been so long. He had almost forgotten the feeling. It threatened to destroy him.

Pain. Horrid pain. Radiating from every nerve in his body. it was a terribly unwelcome surprise, and one that Rock was thoroughly unprepared for. He hadn't felt _anything_ in the past week, and for the first sensation after such isolation to be miserable, soul-crushing pain?

He screamed, and realized he could scream. He clawed at the arm strangling him, and realized he could move. He glared up at his attacker, and realized he could see. The smell of ash in his nostrils. The tang of blood in his throat. The rumbling pangs of hunger in his belly. He looked up, blinded by the light.

_(Ah, shit… c'mon buddy… time to sleep)_

A face. Blurry. He could hardly recognize it. It looked down at him with sadness and warm sympathy. He tried to focus, but his conciousness was slipping. He tried to speak, but there was no breath in his lungs. He tried to think, but the darkness enveloped him. He was dragged back into that inky, dark hell.

That face...He knew that face…

_I know… that..._

_ that's… _

...

* * *

Broooooocky


	16. Revival

Uwu

* * *

"Rock?... Hey… Rocky… c'mon, wake up, won't you?"

Terry sighed an bowed his head. He held Rock's limp hand in his own and watched the boy as he slept. He appeared healthy and robust, but even after several hours, failed to awaken. The nurses had insisted Rock just needed rest, but the longer the boy remained unconscious, the more worried Terry became.

_Iori already woke up ages ago… why is Rock still like this? Urgh… _

It'd been about half a day since everyone was rushed from the emergency helicopter into the bowels of Kagura Pharmaceuticals main headquarters and primary treatment facility. In a flurry of activity - most of which Terry remained oblivious to - The two victims of this sci-fi body swap were whisked away on gurneys and had their… brains zapped?

_Something like that… probably..._

In any case, the doctors had insisted of the operation had succeeded. Rock _should _be back in this body… _So why hasn't he woken up? _

"Rocky… are you in there? You're not… gone… are you?"

Had something gone wrong? Chizuru had hit him with some nonsense about experimental soul transfer and made him sign a disclosure document. The situation was so urgent that Terry didn't bother to question her. Only now was he regretting it. What were the risks? What were the dangers? Was it possible that Rock's soul (as crazy as it sounded) had evaporated in the process of this experimental procedure? Was he… gone? Disappeared? _Dead?_

_No… _

Terry, despairing, squeezed the limp hand once again. He raised it up, and clasped it in his own, pressing it against his lips and squeezing his eyes shut to pray… to who? Terry didn't know. There was nothing else he could do. He begged the abyss for his son's life.

"Ohh… Rocky."

He sighed and tried to hold down the grief. It was already late evening in Tokyo. The window was cracked open very slightly, letting the cold, crisp autumn air seep in. Terry took a deep breath and forcefully encouraged himself. _It's okay. It's okay. Rock's just tired. He'll wake up any time now… right? _

_Right?_

Terry gritted his teeth and looked over his son's unmoving form. He was breathing, but that was it. He didn't move. Neither did his eyes move beneath his eyelids. Aside from the faint rise and fall of his chest, he was still as death.

… _Is he… in a coma?_

Had Chizuru done something? Had the doctors screwed this up? Did they just expect him to thank them for trying, an walk away peacefullyif Rock was indeed dead?! _Ridiculous! I'll- _

"Ughh, ow… Ouch!...owww..."

Startled, Terry jolted upright and let go. He hadn't realized how tightly he was gripping Rock's hand until the boy awakened to complain. He was frozen in shock and simply stared as Rock bolted upright and massaged his knuckles, bleary and annoyed. The boy blinked once and frowned, as if confused and trying to recall where he was. He looked up to meet Terry's eyes.

A moments pause.

And Rock cried out.

"Dad? _Dad?!"_

All of Terry's dark thoughts vanished at the sound of his son's voice. The heaviness burdening his heart dropped away, and he was filled with relief. Something mysterious make his cheeks wet as he stood from his chair, and grinned until his face hurt.

_"...was never getting out of there... and it was all dark, and (snorfle) it hurt really bad, and…"_

Rock had begun trying to cry and talk at the same time, and Terry didn't catch a single word he babbled out. The boy had scrambled from beneath the blankets and almost fell off the narrow hospital bed in his haste to throw himself at his father.

"Daad..._" *_thud* "_urmph…(sniffle)... Dad!_"

Terry was eager to recieve him, and hugged Rock tightly against himself. Rock had thrown his arms about his father's neck and was producing waterworks down the front of Terry's shirt. Tears. Snot. Probably spit, because he had continued talking. Terry chuckled rested his cheek on the top of the boy's head and patted his hair.

"Ohh… oh, Rocky. I'm glad to have you back… you had me worried sick."

Rock managed to choke out a barely understandable response between sobs.

_"I'm… Dad… I'm back… I'm back Dad… I'm back..."_

* * *

_Time to spill beans..._


	17. REBOUND

_Rock managed to sleep through this_

* * *

Kyo had never recalled the rebound ever being quite so bad.

Back then, this sort of thing always happened when Iori was subject to an internal takeover. It was one of the reasons he'd worked out a 'peaceful' arrangement with the Riot, because the battleground was his own body - and the collateral damage was always heavy.

_Seriously though, Yag… you almost died..._

Perhaps Iori hid it from him. Perhaps his current, incredibly frial physical condition contributed to the severity. Regardless, it hurt terribly to see his rival brought so low. That always-haughty gaze reduced to nothing more than a glazed sorrow, clinging to life by the tips of his fingernails.

_At least you're alive…_

Even if Kyo had been expecting it, it was still shocking. The two of them had joked briefly about the rebound before Iori went to get his soul swapped back into that body of death. He had recalled patting Iori's head and jokingly telling his rival not to cry that much, receiving a good natured punch in the stomach in return.

But holy moly, cry he did.

The moment they got out of that procedure, the moment Iori regained consciousness, he was _screaming. _The fucking rebound was no joke.

For fifteen straight minutes (he passed out twice in the interim) he thrashed and cried rolling tears like he was getting his insides scrambled. Kyo had spent that time standing over him frantically yelling at him, and the nurses for some sort of respite. But he knew as well as anyone, they could only wait it out. Not even anesthesia could numb this kind of pain.

But the trial didn't end with the pain.

That's when Iori began to vomit blood.

It looked like something out of a horror movie. This gaunt, emaciated creature - wracked through with pangs of torturous agony- was attempting to empty his entire circulatory system onto the white tiled floors. Kyo didn't know it was possible to lose so much blood and survive.

And it wasn't. Iori definitely would not have survived. An emergency CAT scan said the rebound had played havoc with his internals. His pancreas was pulverized. The gall bladder had exploded. It was a damn good thing they were in a hospital… _Chizuru Kagura's hospital. _

So, four hours of emergency surgery.

Kyo had stayed there, biting his nails and listening to the slow resonance of the Magatama against the sword lodged against his heart. The idea Iori would die? It was so foreign. Even as Kyo watched his lifelong friend falling apart right in front of him, he couldn't wrap his head around the idea.

Well. He didn't need to.

Iori was a tough fucker.

He'd survived.

Sure, he essentially needed to be put on life support for the next several hours, but he was alive. He looked like a pincushion with all the needles sticking out of him, but whatever Chizuru's doctors did - worked. He stabilized… eventually. Only after he did, did Kyo allow himself to crawl into the hospital bed next-door for a few hours of restless sleep.

Now he awakened, bleary-eyed to a commotion in Iori's half of the room.

_Panic!_

What was going on! Had Iori died in the night? Was he going in for another surgery? Jolted awake - Kyo staggered out of his cot, and violently tore back the dividing curtain.

"-you back down to Argentina to fatten you back up. Poor boy. Don't worry, Uncle's here for you… ah, Kusanagi-san! How are you, my friend?"

"Oh, Hi 4th!"

Iori's creepy uncle had come to visit. Per usual, he was accompanied with his typical entourage of bodyguards and advisors - all of which (the moment they laid on on Kyo) began to mutter and glare. It was on occasions like these that the bad blood between the Clans came to light. Luckily the 4th elder, the most authoritative figure in the clan, didn't seem to be stuck in that mindset. Several years ago the old man had somehow gotten it in his head that the two Heirs were in some sort of illicit Romeo and Juliet relationship, and as a result, sent Kyo a generous birthday cheque each year.

_Yag mails me dildos… his dad mails me money… heh, maan… this family… _

Now, the old man was seated beside the bed and was petting Iori's head like he was some sort of small animal. Iori probably liked the attention (after all, who didn't want to see their father figure after such a horrid ordeal), but was doing his best to fake displeasure with just his eyes. He glared angrily at his uncle, then embarrassingly at Kyo - who (to his dismay) made a kissing face. If Iori didn't have a breathing tube jammed down his throat, he probably would've defended himself. Alas, the only thing he was currently capable of was staring at everyone as hard as he could, with as much effort as he could muster.

Kyo shook his head and chuckled. If Iori had the energy to pretend to be mad. That was good. He'd probably be stuck here for a week or two, then he'd be released to resume his normal, highly disruptive lifestyle.

_Phew… welp. Looks like we're gonna be okay..._

The fourth seemed to know it as well, and after a short _(one sided)_ conversation with the heir, turned to address Kyo.

"Well, Kusanagi. Thank you for watching our darling little heir for us. We've been trying to hire a babysitter for him for ages, but- _ah, ah! breathing tube stays in! Iori, stop that. Somebody grab him!_"

* * *

_Yag, my darling_


	18. Dirty Laundry with Dad

_za beeeeens!_

* * *

"...so, Rocky."

Rock blinked and pulled his earbuds out to give his father his full attention. The two of them had just taken off on their flight from Tokyo back to SouthTown, and Rock had busied himself scrolling through the movie list. Honestly, Rock had gotten so used to flying first class with his boss, the economy seats just seemed far too small, _especially _for Terry.

_Dad's always pinching pennies… _

Anyhow, once they cleared Chizuru's hospital (Rock didn't think he'd be back there so soon) they made a beeline for the airport, and just barely made their flight. It was only now that they had time to sit down and indulge in serious conversation.

…

And that serious tone and his father's voice made Rock nervous. Was he in trouble? Was Terry disappointed in him? Rock cautiously placed his ear buds on his lap and turned toward his Dad. He did his best to hide his apprehension, but Rock was certain that Terry could see right through him.

"What's up, Dad."

"Yagami said something to me right before we headed out to get you. The nutcase wouldn't explain anything, and for all I know, he could be talking nonsense… but…"

Rock frowned. Why had Terry _and_ Iori come looking for him? Wasn't Iori able to handle it on his own? Didn't Boss realize that Rock didn't want his father to know of the more… _distasteful _things he had done?

_Boss… ughhh..._

Rock had a general idea of what Riot had done the past couple of days. He knew what Riot was like. Riot liked him well enough. Riot had even saved him once. But Riot was also the quintessential example of _'crazy axe murderer'._ If Riot took over (and Rock was fairly certain Riot had taken over) then… _then_...

Fear set in. He went rigid.

_Dad… he must have seen me do some awful things… what… what is he gonna think of me..._

The dull drone of the airplane interior seemed to fade into the background. A chill went down his spine and Rock forced a fake smile. What kind of nonsense did Iori spill? Boss didn't really get into his personal affairs, but then again - he had never promised to keep anything secret either. Rock nodded blandly at his father, dearly hoping the subject wasn't what he was thinking.

"Oh, b-boss says a lot of weird stuff… haha. You shouldn't take him too seriously."

"Yeah, yeah… of course."

Terry wasn't going to drop the topic. He was observing Rock carefully, and suddenly - he felt like an ant under a microscope.

"Iori said…he kinda implied you've…" Terry was choosing his words carefully, "You've gone on rampage before. You've done something similar."

_Shit… _

Rampage… yeah. He had rampaged whilst On Tour. He killed lots of people. He killed Shermie. He'd killed Chinese Mafia members. He watched his employer light up a whole city block - and nearly tear the ribs out of somebody. Tour had been… almost a loss of innocence, yet to his father, Rock had insisted that the trip had been nothing but sunshine and daisies.

Why?

Because...Rock was terrified.

If Terry knew his son had murdered people in joyous frenzy, what would he think?

Terry had spent the past couple of years investing in him. Teaching him and showing him all which was good, and gentle and just. Encouraging him and standing alongside him as he fought the tendencies of his blood. As far as Terry was concerned, under his care Rock had successfully rehabilitated from his biological father's wicked influence.

_But now… Iori… dammit… why did you say that?!_

Maybe…maybe now Terry would think his efforts had gone to waste. Perhaps he'd become disillusioned. Maybe he'd give up on Rock? There was nothing more he could do. Say he'd wasted his time? Reject? Abandon?

"Rocky?"

Rock flinched back into reality. He had gritted his teeth tight, and involuntarily balled up his fists. Terry was gazing at him calmly. His eyes were filled with gentle concern.

"Rocky… if this happened before… why didn't you tell me? Why… why does _Iori Yagami _know about it, and I don't…"

Terry sounded a bit hurt. Of course he'd be. Clearly, there were some things that were kept at work, and weren't shared with family… but this wasn't one of those things. Rock had no good excuses. He lowered his eyes and stared at his lap. He barely forced the words out.

"Dad… I'm sorry. I...I just wasn't sure what you'd think of me… what if..."

"What if, what?"

Rock gulped. He didn't raise his eyes.

"If... You thought I was gonna be just like Geese… "

A pause.

Then Terry made a noise.

It was a noise somewhere between sorrow and love. The sound of Terry's heart breaking for him. With one swift motion, he pushed aside the dividing armrest, seized Rock in a tight embrace and kissed him on the forehead. Rock, surprised, grunted and flapped about as his face was mashed into his father's chest, and the air was behind squashed out of his lungs.

Terry murmured his response into Rock's hair. He was wearing a sad smile, and his voice was warm and assuring.

"Rocky… no matter what you do, you'll always be my son, and I'll always be your father. Do you believe that?"

Rock sighed and nodded. He felt an invisible weight slough off his shoulders.

"And even if you go climb Geese Tower, and take over that gang… do you know what'll happen?"

Rock raised his eyes.

"I'll be fast on your heels, ready to bring you back home. I might rough you up a little, but I'll never, _never _let you go… Understood?"

"... Yeah. Thanks Dad."

"So… it's storytime, isn't it?"

"...um…"

* * *

Yag gon die


	19. Vegan Baby

_shorty! _

* * *

"Kale, Tofu and quinoa… I don't know how you subsist off that Rabbit food, Terry."

It was late at night, and the two of them were standing at the sticky outdoor counters of a burger stand. Mary was hungrily digging into her burger, and Terry had just consumed his second. After a couple of days of eating Chef Howard's food, both she and Terry needed to sink their teeth into some meat.

"_(Chewing) whelp… _thing is, after this whole… Freeman thing, Rock has been a little iffy about meat…"

Mary gave him a look. According to Terry, Rock had swapped bodies with Iori, got possessed by Iori's split personality, and the result was Freeman - who ran about the city eating people's innards. Mary wasn't entirely sure if she believed him - but right now Iori Yagami (the chief murder suspect) was stuck in the ICU under Chizuru Kagura's care. Mary was in charge of the Freeman case, and needed to interrogate the red-haired loon. Investigation was on hold until he returned to SouthTown.

Regardless, Mary nodded in tentative understanding. If Rock _really _had been unwillingly munching raw livers for the past couple of days, he certainly might have a (at least temporary) aversion to meat.

Terry continue to complain.

"He seemed pretty normal until we had lunch on the flight from Tokyo back home. He just got finished telling me the _most insane story_… then started into the pork chop… immediately, grabbed the barf bag and puked it up."

Mary raised her eyebrows.

"And ever since, he won't even look at meat - much less cook it. As far as I can tell, he's gone vegan… and I think he's developed an unhealthy obsession with essential oils. A ton of stuff keeps getting delivered to the house, and I swear his room smells like a perfume shop."

Mary chuckled.

"Wow… next think you know he's gonna grow his hair super long and start investing in healing crystals."

Terry just looked worried.

"Don't give him any ideas…"

* * *

_the beginning of new age Rock_


	20. Ultra-Spiritual

_yeeee short story finished._

_Terry needs to be shown more respect. He's such a bro._

* * *

It'd been two and a half weeks since he had last been _allowed _to walk around on his own volition, and finally, after Dr. Curry ran him through a gauntlet of tests to clear him, he was back in SouthTown.

_Riot… you caused all this trouble, you know..._

_KKKKKKKAAAA_

_Whatever man..._

The hospital stay sucked. Things hurt pretty badly, but it could have been worse. After all, Iori had friends in Japan.

The Fourth had swung by a couple of times per week to sit and chat - which was really nice. Iori hardly spent any time with him. Kagura had stopped by once, it was good to see her. Kyo had brought him an old 'KOF Champion' cardboard cutout of himself, saying '_I'll always be here for you'. _But honestly, he didn't really need to - since he _literally _spent nearly five hours a day in Iori's hospital room. He had even bought Yuki a few times - who also seemed happy to see him. She immediately asked for concert tickets. Iori had promised to mail her some.

_Thank goodness the fans didn't figure out where I was… ugh, that would have been chaos..._

As far as Iori was concerned, everything was going back to normal. He was back on good terms with Riot (who seemed rather apologetic after the ordeal). His house hadn't been burglarized, save for his routinely missing plasma TV. Shates (after bugging him for rent) presented him with a bouquet of flowers and a plate of her famous lemon bars.

Life was good.

Well… aside for a few things.

Freeman's murder case was still an active investigation. Officer Ryan had been breathing down his neck the moment he landed in to city. Sooner or later Iori was going to have to deal with it. Maybe he'd...have the current Sheriff fired… or something.

_Everyone takes Geese's bribes… right? Ehh… I'll call DiBrando if I need to… let's see how this plays out..._

Iori had also developed a sudden and unexplainable fear of Terry Bogard. He hadn't the foggiest idea where it had come from, but assumed it was Riot's emotions affecting his own. Maybe because Terry had subdued Freeman during their little hunting party? It was possible… but then again, Riot got choked out by Kusanagi all the time, and never really expressed fear of _him. _

_Riot you make no sense. _

_WOLF! WOLF! _

_Shut up._

Finally, Iori was still unsure how his protege had been affected by the body-swap. Considering the severity of the rebound, Iori knew that riot had a conducted hostile takeover. As a result, Rock wouldn't have been able to see what the body was doing. In this particular case, it was probably for the best… but even so, it was only a matter of time before rock figured out who Freeman was. Worst case scenario, the boy would quit. Again.

_Well… guess I'd better go find out… urgh. Hope Bogard isn't there… _

It was 8:30 in the morning, and Iori was fumbling with the keys to the store's backdoor. He had parked the Volkswagen in the back, and caught sight of his Mustang (currently being held hostage by Rock Howard) sitting at the meter. Looks like the kid was already at work.

Weird for him to be early.

_DUCKY DUCKY. _

_Whatever_

_WOLF!_

Iori ignored the babbling in his head, and with a sigh pushed open the heavy steel door. He was a bit tired from jet lag, and felt quite bloated from spending two weeks strapped to a bed and barely moving. All in all, he was neither physically nor mentally prepared for what was on the other side of that door.

"Rock! This is ridiculous. You can't just-" *_Thunk* _"oh… Yagami. You're back..."

Terry Bogard had managed to run right into him as he entered the store, knocking him flat. Normally instinct kept him out of these sort of accidents, but he (Riot) had been struck with a paralyzing terror. He was also still on pain meds.

Terry hauled him to his feet, and continued to argue with Rock, who was…

_What the hell. _

"Dad! You don't understand the importance of anointing this space, okay? It's because you're too acidic. I can feel your vibrations. You've eaten meat recently, haven't you?! Don't you would know that affects your oneness with the universe?!"

Rock was enthusiastically shouting nonsense from the other end of the room. He was wearing a tie-dyed hair band, and was carrying a bowl, which he used to periodically splash a foul smelling liquid everywhere he walked. It was green.

Iori observed the strange scene with curiosity. Terry was less amused.

"Rocky… ugh… look, you need t-" Terry paused from berating his sons erratic behavior to turn and look at him. Iori felt himself go pale and involuntarily clutched the doorframe, gouging holes in the metal.

"Hey Yagami, your nose is bleeding… Are you alright?"

The only response Iori manage to give was a startled nod. Rock took one look at him from across the room and ran to get his backpack.

"Boss! Hi! I have an essential oil for that! Silver Acai emulsion essence will fix you right up! You drip it into your eyes!"

"Rock! Stop that! Give me the bowl!"

The blonde teenager shrieked a response.

"Dad! You're not enlightened enough to understand! Just let me banish the dissonant energies! Boss! You're gonna help me! Hold this crystal and hum!"

* * *

_Rock is going to put boss right back into the ICU with his alternative t healing methods._

_Eventually he calms down a little bit... But not before I've gotten my laugh_

_Riot scared of daddy wolf. Lol. He be like - he beat me up and choked me!_

_I kind of wanted to include whip in this, but I think I'll reserve it for another story._

_Leave me a rev guis :heart:_


End file.
